The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team has made good gains in 2018, according to their recently-appointed technical director Simone Resta, but he feels there is a need for the team to expand its workforce, perhaps by as much as a third.

The team has scored eighteen points in the opening twelve races of 2018 with Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson behind the wheel and sit ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, but Resta admits this is still not where the Swiss outfit want to be, and it is important to build on the potential that is present within Sauber and bring in additional employees to help take the team forward.

“The plans are to increase further,” Resta is quoted as saying by RACER. “Currently, in terms of size of the team and number of employees, we are over 400 and we the plan is to increase it by a third. We need to keep growing to increase and also with more manpower.

“Without doubt we are not where we want to be, so we need to improve and we need to change things. It is a bit early to pinpoint the exact areas we need to work on, but as it has been weeks it will be not fair to understand all the areas we need to modify. But without doubt we need to change things and improve.”

Resta is still evaluating where Sauber need to improve and bring in additional engineers and mechanics, with the Italian still settling in to his new surroundings having only arrived at Hinwil at the beginning of July after leaving Scuderia Ferrari.

“Every place is different and every place needs something different and I hope with my experience I can contribute to the team and I am still learning the environment, the colleagues and the processes,” said Resta.

“I’ve been there … a very short time. Nevertheless, I am applying to do my best, to look forward and go forward with the team. The objectives are challenging as you would always like to be a points finisher and to do another step compared to so far this year. Now we are stable in the midfield.”